The Adventure of a Lifetime
by Megamind-loves-Roxanne
Summary: Arnold and Helga are thrust into the world of Rorome where they face danger, romance, and loads of adventures. But there's a dark secret lurking that they never expected...A cool fic! Promise! Please review! Episodes 3 uploaded! Arnold/Helga fic!!
1. Note

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AUTHOR'S NOTE!! VERY IMPORTANT SO PLEASE READ!!!

Hi everyone!! The fic is in the next click of the button but I just wanted to make this note for all of you (okay, well, I **NEEDED** to make this note).

If some of you remember me (like Roxy I'm sure you do right?) I used to be named "Hitomi_Fanel" or "HitomiFanel". I wrote such fics as "Reflections", "A New Life" (my most popular one), "A New Life: Arnold's Turn" etc. If you don't remember me then that's probably because you're new.

Oh, btw, what ever happened to "Silver Kitten"? She wrote a GREAT fic called "An Act of Care" but I never saw her post at this section anymore. CoSmIc DrEaMeR also hasn't been around but I know the reason. It's the same reason as me, which brings me to the point of this note.

Okay, so here's the 411 on this fic. I came up with it MONTHS ago, wrote episode 1, posted it, then totally and completely abandoned the fic!! I'm angry at myself but the reason for the abandonment is the same reason many of us have (right????)

That reason is called SCHOOL!!!!!

*ahem* Anyways, that's what I want to make a short note about. Because of school and the one-act play festival that I'm a director of, and the fact that I'm a REALLY popular author in the Inuyasha section (under "anime"), I can't supply the episodes of this fic as quickly as I would like to. There's homework, having to stay after school for the rehearsals and auditions, doing my other fanfics that are even more popular than this one, studying for tests, preparing for the SAT (STAR) tests, etc.

But PLEASE, bare with me as I TRY and make an effort to get the episode's out ASAP. I'm not going to abandon this fic this time and I know I'll have a whole lot more fun writing it this time other than before because I was FINALLY able to stop obsessing over revising episode 1. I just decided to leave it as it was and post it.

Okay, so enough of my ramblings. I just want to say one last thing though. This fic is dedicated to the following people:

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CoSmIc DrEaMeR (and I hope A Christmas Present for Arnold is continued soon. Remember how you said that you would post it and work on it if you saw this fic continued???), **Roxy(and she has some numbers included in her name that I can't remember)** (Sorry about not remembering your fully name Roxy!!! But I hope you enjoy this fic!!), **Silver Kitten** (Where did you go????).

Then there's this author who made a fic called "**Missing Pieces"** (sorry I don't remember your name!!! Please don't hate me for it!! I promise that I'll dedicate an episode to you (Oh! Episode 3 is ALL yours!!!)) but this fic is also dedicated to you. There was a lot of stuff that I needed to comment on about the stuff you said in your author's notes. For one thing, Craig Bartlett DOES read fanfiction. He said so in an interview with someone. Two, I also thought the dance between Arnold and Helga (the April Fool's one) was VERY INTENSE O.O Three, it seems we have a lot in common. You're an actress (since you were in that play Pippin) and you're 18 (well, I'm 17 though but we're still almost the same age!!). And four, CONGRATULATIONS on being accepted towards the college you wanted!!! I hope I get that luck!!!

Okay, NOW you can go ahead and read the fic!!!! I hope you enjoy it!!!

Signed,

Inuyasha-loves-Kagome (A.K.A. Inu-chan)

Email: hitomi_fanel1111@yahoo.com


	2. The adventure begins...

Hey all you Hey Arnold authors and readers (and fans too). I'm sorry that I didn't get this out sooner. You have no idea what things I've been going through. And there's still so much more to come. Like how I have to be a director in a one-act play festival. Then there's homework, working on other fanfics, tests, etc. But I know I already explained all of this in my note from the beginning of this fic right? I've explained that I won't be able to post to frequently like I'd like to but I promise I will try.

This fic is dedicated to **CoSmIc DrEaMeR** because she wanted this fic out sooooo badly and I felt sorry for not posting it up. I'm glad she was patient.

Well, go ahead and read and I hope you enjoy the revised version of Episode 1!

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"Come to me, my love…I'll protect you forever…I promise…"

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The Adventure of a Lifetime

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"Those children will suffer in the same way the other children suffered…"

By Inuyasha-loves-Kagome (You can call me Inu-chan ^^)

Guide:

"…" = Dialogue

[…] = Thoughts

(…) = Notes by me

Italics = Dream conversations

{…} = Sound effects (though they don't happen very often)

Any others will be added later when I have to make up new conversation methods for the characters…

Disclaimer: In Inu-chan's dreams, she owned Hey Arnold…*sigh* but sadly this is the REAL world and all characters belong to Craig Bartlett. "Hey Craig, I'll buy Hey Arnold off you!" I also don't own Chocobo's. They belong to Squaresoft.

~500 years ago~

There was a time when all the nations of Rorome were at war. It was considered as "The Unstoppable War". People in that time completely lost hope that the war would ever end…that is, until a man named Trinidad bargained with the nations, making peace for the world of Rorome and its inhabitants. Unfortunately, all Trinidad wanted was for the nations to trust him, giving him power all over Rorome. Fortunately, two heroes rose up against him, going on a quest to find the Angel Crystal, which was the only thing that could stop Trinidad's Devil Crystal. They succeeded and Trinidad was stopped. However, what the people of the present day Rorome were most inquisitive about was what transpired exactly. No one kept records of the incidents that led to the salvation of Rorome. All they knew was that the two heroes sealed him away inside the Devil Crystal. Not keeping records was their greatest mistake. Now, because they didn't keep records, two more children might go through the same events that the two children of before went through…

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~Prologue~

It had been the same dream for days now. It just wouldn't stop. Every night she would dream, and every time she dreamt it, it made her more afraid, although she asked herself why. Why did a dream make her so afraid? There was nothing scary about the dream. It was merely something that was probably caused by eating before bed. Nothing more, nothing less.

In her dream she had been standing in funny clothes with fog, or mist, or whatever you called it surrounding her. There had been nothing else there. Only her, in funny clothes, standing in mist.

That's when she began to hear it. A voice calling out to her, repeating the same phrase over and over again. She would also see a dark figure walking towards her, his or her arms extended outward. She couldn't make a definite shape out of the person but whoever it was, they repeated the same phrase to her. And when she woke up, she always heard the voice in her head saying that same phrase repeatedly.

_"Come to me, my love…I'll protect you forever…I promise…"_

Everytime she heard this phrase, it always confused her. She didn't know whether to be creeped out or feel safe by the words. Part of her was afraid, as if this were so foreshadowing of some future event, and the other part of her felt safe, as if the person who uttered these words were truly going to protect her. She didn't know which side to believe.

'Why choose sides?' she thought as she got ready for school on a warm, sunny Friday. She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door, ready to start another day of teasing. 'It's just a stupid dream.'

Yet for some reason, she doubted herself…

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Episode 1: The adventure begins…

Arnold walked to school, for the first time alone. Gerald had caught the bug that was going around and he wasn't the only one. Half of Arnold's class had caught it, one by one. Stinky, who had been the first to catch it, was barely recovering and coming back to school tomorrow, while the rest were still bedridden.

Arnold walked inside the school building and headed for his locker. He would need to hurry. Gerald had asked him to get his homework that way he wouldn't miss any work and be left behind when he got better.

{Slam!}

Arnold didn't even have to look to know that it was Helga G. Pataki knocking down poor, helpless kid into his or her locker. Arnold closed his own and for once, didn't bother to mix himself with the angry girl who raised her fist when you tried to talk to her about something small. He didn't understand fully why Helga was the way she was. He knew there was a nice girl hidden behind the one she showed to everyone, but Arnold was puzzled as to how he would make that side show for everyone to see.

He turned in order to head to class and saw that it wasn't even Helga who had shoved anyone. It was Wolfgang. He stood near a locker, laughing his head off as kids looked to see what was going on. Helga, meanwhile, walked through the hall as if she had the whole world on her shoulders. She seemed to be deep in thought and didn't even notice anything that was happening around her. She was barely even clinging onto her books for gosh sakes! They looked like they were ready to fall.

Phoebe walked up to Helga and began talking to her, but Helga merely passed by, ignoring her and continuing her route to who-knows-where. Phoebe looked at Arnold with a questionable gaze and he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what was wrong.

He followed Phoebe towards class and told himself that one way or another, he was going to find out.

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Throughout the whole day it seemed like one weird time-zone thing. Helga didn't even once speak a word throughout the day. She continued to gaze at her desk as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. And her face didn't change expression. She looked like she was deep in thought and didn't want anyone to bother her. Phoebe tried to get her to talk but she was ignored. No one else seemed to notice the change in Helga since they were too busy paying attention to Mr. Simmons for once.

Once school was out, the day had turned dark and dreary. It looked like it was going to rain. Helga headed towards the bus and Arnold told Phoebe that he would try to figure out what was wrong; that she should leave it up to him. Phoebe had given him a knowing smile that he didn't understand but he shrugged it off. Helga was more important right now.

He followed her onto the bus and looked around for her. She was seated near the back, with her head resting on her palm as she looked out the window. She looked like a small child (smaller than she actually is) who was deprived of her afternoon outside.

Arnold went over and sat down next to her. He rested his books on his lap and turned to look at her. Either she knew he was there and she was ignoring him, or she was so lost in her own world that she didn't know he was there. Either way, Arnold took a deep breath and asked, "Are you okay Helga?"

She didn't answer. She looked so deeply lost in her thoughts that Arnold thought her soul had separated from her body.

"Helga?"

Still no response.

Arnold turned to look at the front of the bus and sighed. If Helga didn't want to talk, then that was okay. He would respect her privacy…for now. He was still determined to find out what was wrong.

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When they reached Helga's stop, Helga got off and Arnold followed her.

Arnold didn't notice the frown that was forming on her face…

By the time the bus pulled away, the rain had begun and at first it poured lightly, before pouring in heavy, fat drops that drenched their clothes. Arnold cursed and got angry for not bringing his umbrella. Of course, how was he supposed to know about the sudden change in weather?

"Helga," Arnold said softly, hoping to get her attention. A lightning bolt ripped the sky and Arnold jumped. He noticed, however, that Helga didn't even flinch. Her hands were clenched at her sides and they were even shaking lightly. Arnold prepared himself for it. He knew it was coming.

Helga burst. She turned around, her once pensive face turned into one of anger and annoyance. She waved her arms through the air as her hair became plastered to her face. "What do you want football head?!" she yelled. "Didn't you get the message? Didn't you see that I wanted to be left alone? Can't you take a hint?" People who were nearby stopped and saw the argument. Some thought it was a lover's quarrel so they didn't bother to interfere.

Arnold's own faced took on a look of hurt. "I was just wondering what was wrong. I was worried about you," he said softly, trying to stay composed and not look like he was hurt and scared.

Helga's face softened and turned into one of puzzlement. "Y-You were worried about me?" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, her face still soft, though she tried to make it look angry. Why did he have to care so much? Why couldn't he distance himself from people the way Helga did? She hated it when he did that. Why did he have to worry about everyone? She knew that's what was going on here. She had a quick thought run through her mind that he was worried about HER, but the truth was that he worried about everyone, because that's who he was.

"Yes I was worried about you," Arnold replied, his face taking on one of relief. He had expected more from her as a reply. Something more angry and hateful. He was glad that wasn't the case. Perhaps he was getting through her barrier. 

Before he got a chance to replay again, something on the floor glittered. He looked at it and saw that it was a rather small crystal on a chain. Arnold bent down to pick it up and saw that it was a silver heart with golden wings on a golden chain. [This looks expensive] Arnold thought as he fingered the jewel. [I'd better take it to the police]

Before he even got to take one step in any direction, the crystal glowed silver and both Arnold and Helga were engulfed in the silvery light. The same people who had stopped to watch the argument gasped as they saw the pillar drag the two towards the heavens.

The children knew no more…

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It felt strange for the both of them. It's actually hard to explain what it is they felt but I guess you could say they felt like they were going down an invisible slide while all these green and silvery lights swirled around them. 

Finally, after much time in that "slide", Arnold sat up and put a hand to his head, trying to stop the dizziness he felt. A cool breeze blowed through his hair and Arnold felt soft grass tickle his skin as he sat on the floor. All he remembered was being out in the rain, arguing with Helga.

Helga!

Arnold scanned all around for her, seeing that he was on a hill with a tree at the top center. Where was he? Why was he out in the country, instead of in the city? He continued to look around until his gaze fell on a pink lump. Knowing she always wore pink, Arnold stood up and went over to her. She was face down, with her arms under her head. He shook her lightly. "Helga," he whispered.

His heart was pounding the whole time but it was lighted when he heard her groan after a while. Her eyes fluttered open before closing. The sun was strong but with the breeze, she felt cold. She remembered why. The rain. She was soaked thoroughly. She looked up at Arnold's concerned face and smiled inwardly. She was happy Arnold was worried about her, but she didn't want to show it.

Arnold backed up, letting her stand up for herself, though when she showed signs of falling, he was there to help her steady herself.

Helga looked at their surroundings. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Arnold answered, just as confused as she was. This certainly didn't look familiar. Well, to tell the truth, Arnold hadn't really been outside of Seattle but he would still know when he wasn't there anymore (although I don't know if that's the city they live in. I always thought it was New York and then hey-arnold.com said it was some town that started with a W.)

{Crunch, crunch, crunch}

They heard the noise and their senses became alert. They looked all around and spotted the source of the noise. Over the horizon came a girl around their age with long, waist length red hair and silver eyes, something that amazed both Arnold and Helga. They'd never seen silver eyes before. She was wearing a white shirt with jean overalls, and she was carrying a bucket in her hand, filled with some sort of liquid.

When she saw them, she seemed to forget all about her bucket. She dropped it on the floor, then ran to them, noticing their wet clothes. "Oh my!" she cried when she reached them. "Are the two of you all right?"

Arnold smiled kindly at her, despite the fact that he was cold. By the looks of it though, he wasn't the only one. Helga was also shivering next to him and flapping her hands on her arms to keep warm. "We're fine," he answered kindly.

"No you're not," the girl responded firmly, shaking her head, sending her long red hair flying around her. "Both of you are soaked to the bone." [How had they gotten wet?] she wondered to herself. [It hasn't rained in days] An idea hit her. "Why don't the two of you come with me to my farm so you can dry off? I have a warm fire and I could lend you some clothes."

Arnold quickly agreed with a nod, saying that it was a good idea, while Helga was unsure. She just stood there and watched as Arnold followed the girl. [Why does he have to be so trusting?] Helga wondered. [How does he know she isn't just some weirdo who like to take people home to do who-knows-what to them]

Arnold stopped when he noticed that Helga wasn't following. "Aren't you coming Helga?"

Helga humphed and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why should I follow Nancy Jane over there?" she asked with a cold tone, refusing to meet their gazes. She hated to act like this but she didn't want to trust someone she didn't even know.

The girl frowned at her in annoyance. [Who does this girl think she is?] "Excuse me but my name isn't Nancy Jane. It's Ardine," she responded with her hands at her hips. This girl seemed rude, but Ardine was still determined to help them.

Helga burst out laughing and clutched her stomach. "Ardine? What kind of stupid name is that?"

Ardine only frowned. Then she turned around and started walking. "Follow me towards my farm so you two can get dry."

Helga stopped laughing and looked at the girl in shock. [Why is she being so nice to me still? Here I am, laughing about her name, yet she still decides to help us…me included. Not just Arnold] Her gaze softened as she looked at the both of their retreating forms. [I guess I found another Arnold…]

Helga decided to be nice to Ardine from now on and ran to catch up to the two.

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The walk towards Ardine's farm had been a short trip since it wasn't too far away from the hill and the tree. Arnold and Helga hadn't expected the farm to be so small. It was just a small house in the middle, with the barn on the left side and a fence on the right side. The only strange thing about the farm is that confined inside the fence were large chicks that were the size of horses. Helga gaped at them and pointed. "What in criminey's name are THOSE?" she asked as if they were some disgusting thing under her shoe. She may never have seen anything like it, but she had to admit that they were sort of cute…not that she would admit that out loud.

Ardine followed her pointing finger and smiled, though she hadn't understood the word 'criminey'. She didn't even seem bothered by the tone Helga used. "Those are called chocobo's. This is a chocobo breeding farm."

Arnold looked at them also and just looked neutral, though he was still shivering a bit. "Do you live here alone Ardine?" He wasn't sure if asking her such a personal question was going to upset her but he knew he could always say he was sorry.

"Yes," she answered as she looked at Arnold. He turned to look at her too, keeping the calm look on his face. "I never knew my family but I've lived on this farm since before I can remember." Weird thing was, she didn't seem saddened by this. Arnold could tell. She was smiling and it was genuine. It wasn't one to trick anyone.

Ardine continued walking towards the house and they followed. They hoped they would get answers soon.

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The warm fire blazed inside the house, which of course looked like a girl lived there. There were many girl colors like purple, blue, red, pink, etc. All of them vibrant and making you feel light and happy when you looked at them. Even Helga felt warm inside when she looked at the coziness of the house. There was the fireplace, the table near a window (with a white tablecloth on it), flower pots everywhere, and a carpet near the fire that had the said colors.

Helga immediately went over to the fire and sat down Indian-style on the floor. She put her hands out towards the fire and hoped she would dry soon.

Ardine and Arnold went over to sit at the table. Arnold was content with letting the sun dry him as it poured inside through the window and lighting that side of the room.

Ardine cupped her hands together on the table and looked at Arnold. "So, where do the two of you come from?"

"Seattle," he answered simply, hoping that by telling her what city they lived in they would be able to go home. Or maybe she had a phone…

Ardine looked at him like he was a bit crazy. "Se-a-ttle?" she asked slowly, pronouncing all the syllables in order to get used to the word. "There's no Se-a-ttle here."

Helga turned her head immediately and both her and Arnold looked at her with amazement. "What do you mean," Helga began, "no Seattle?"

Ardine looked at her and rolled her eyes. "What I'm saying is that there is no Se-a-ttle here."

Helga felt anger burn inside of her and she stood up, her hitting hand clenched and ready to attack. "How can there be no Seattle when we were just there?" she demanded, wanting to know if this girl was crazy. Perhaps she was just joking with them. And if that was the case, then Helga would make sure that this girl met Old Betsy and the Five Avengers.

Ardine glared at Helga slightly. "As far as I know, this town you speak of doesn't exist. There is no such thing as Se-a-ttle in Rorome."

Both Arnold and Helga face-faulted. "Ro-Rorome?" Arnold questioned, wondering what was going on.

Ardine turned to Arnold and blinked. "You sound as if you've never heard of Rorome."

Helga came over and slammed her hands down on the table, making both Ardine and Arnold jump. "That's because we haven't!" she yelled, looking very angry, like all those times her sister Olga would go visit. "We've only heard of Earth!"

Ardine fell silent for a while, but her eyes still looked like they were going to fall out of her head if she made them bulge any more. "E-Earth?" she asked shakily. Could it be…?

Arnold looked at her with suspicion. "What's wro—" Before he could finish, Ardine had crushed him into the largest hug anyone could be in. In the background, Helga's hand clenched and she looked ready to kill, had it not been for the fact that Ardine talked right before she did anything.

Ardine pulled back and smiled wide. "You're finally here! I can't believe it!" 

They both stared at her, confused, but also waiting for her to continue.

"The Legendary Heroes are finally here to stop Trinidad!" she exclaimed happily like a child who had discovered a secret treasure that no one else knew about.

For the thousandth time that day, Arnold and Helga blinked in confusion. "Legendary Heroes?" Helga questioned in disbelief. Had she heard the girl right? Was this all real? Or was she still dreaming?

Ardine smiled at Helga and nodded. "There's a story I heard as a little girl that said that there were going to be two Legendary Heroes who would come to this world and save it. They would travel Rorome for the Angel Crystal and use it to stop his Devil Crystal."

Upon hearing about a crystal, Arnold remembered the one he had found and searched his pocket for it. Miracles seemed to happen when he pulled it out of his pocket. He was just looking at it, but then Ardine looked his way and saw what was in his hands. Her eyes widened and she leapt forward to snatch the jewel out of his hands. That caused Arnold to blink and Helga to give her a skeptical look. "I can't believe you have the Angel Crystal already!" She smiled brightly. "Well, that saves the two of you from having to search for it."

Arnold and Helga didn't say anything. They didn't know what to say. This was all coming to them so fast that a Japanese bullet train seemed slow. Ardine walked over to Helga and hung the necklace around her neck. "You should keep it. And hide it between your shirt. If Trinidad finds out that you have it, then it could mean big trouble for you. He won't stop at trying to kill you."

Helga then stood up ferociously and glared at her. "What do you mean?" she yelled. She looked like she wanted to explode and say so much more but couldn't seem to fin the right words, or even where to being.

"What I mean is that the Angel Crystal is the only thing standing in his way of conquering Rorome again."

Okay, if Arnold thought that nothing else would surprise or confuse him further, then he was wrong. "Again?" he questioned.

Ardine looked towards him and nodded. "There was so much to the story someone told me about when I was younger. Yet the most important part of the story was left out because no one knows the truth."

Seeing that she had both of their attentions, she walked over and sat down at the table. Helga also moved to sit with them, though she placed herself in between Ardine and Arnold.

Once she was sure they were ready to listen, she began to tell her tale the way she had heard it:

500 years ago, a Great War broke out between the 4 major nations of Rorome. To this day it's still considered as The Unstoppable War because at the time no one thought it would stop. But one day a priest named Trinidad came and made peace with the nations. He seemed like such a nice man, and he was very kind by what I heard." She paused and her eyes grew sad at the rest. "But it turned out that the only reason he made peace was so that the nations would trust him. That trust gave him power and the leaders succumbed to him." She paused again and there was joy dancing in her eyes. "Luckily, there were two loyal Rorome people who didn't want to stand around and watch their world taken over by such evil. They went on a journey that no one thought they would survive, and found the Angel Crystal. It was a legendary crystal that was rumored to have been made by the goddess of Rorome. But she had to make the Devil Crystal to balance out the power. But with the Angel Crystal, the two of them were able to stop Trinidad and seal him away." She paused again and her face turned puzzled. "Here's where the left out part comes in. No one knows what happened after. There had been rumors about something big that happened after Trinidad's imprisonment but no one kept records of it. All people knew was that something happened to the Legendary Heroes of the past. Something dark."

She turned to look at them again and saw that they were gaping at her like she had done something extraordinary that they couldn't believe. She giggled. "It seems that the story was quite interesting to you two."

Helga then snapped out of it by shaking her head and turning it away. "Yeah right. It's just some stupid fairy tale that you probably heard."

Ardine frowned at her. [What an exasperating girl!] But she decided to stay peaceful and not start any sort of shouting. Helga wouldn't think this was a fairy tale anyways when she was up close with danger. She decided to change the subject and tell them something very important. "You also need to know that the Angel Crystal won't work against Trinidad unless you haven't beaten his minions and gotten the love for Rorome."

"What do you mean?" Helga questioned, all of a sudden confused.

"What I mean is that the Angel Crystal most likely ran out of power when it brought the two of you here and it needs to power up again. In order to do that, you need to make the people of Rorome believe in what you're doing. The only way to do that is by defeating Trinidad's men. Just telling the people won't work." She paused then. "Anyways, I'm going to have to give you weapons so that you can survive against Trinidad's men when they attack you." She stood up and left before Arnold and Helga could question her further.

Helga turned to look at Arnold. Her eyes were almost pleading. "I don't like this Arnold. She wants us to fight someone and endanger our lives. I say we should just get out of here and go home."

Arnold looked away and bit his lip. "But Helga, we don't even know HOW to get home."

"Well, we'll just find some way," Helga argued, looking as if she wanted to anything in order to just forget any of this ever happened.

Before Arnold could say anymore, Ardine had come back with a long, thin something wrapped in a sheet, and a smaller something in a bag. She handed the long something to Arnold and then went over to hand the smaller something to Helga. "These are your weapons. They may take a little getting used to, but I'm sure you can do it."

She reached into her pocket and took out a small, clear stone that was glowing a faint green color. It reminded Helga of Arnold's eyes and she stared at it dreamily. Ardine walked over to Arnold. "This stone is called The Stone of Knowledge. There are many more out there, but they're quite expensive. I was lucky when I found this a few years back and even luckier that I decided not to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. With this stone you'll learn how to wield a sword and all you'll need to do is practice."

She reached out and placed the stone near Arnold's forehead. Helga watched as it slowly materialized into a light green powder, then it seeped through Arnold's head.

Ardine let it all sink in for Arnold, so she walked over to Helga. "You won't need a stone to help you learn how to use your cards Helga. They are special cards that you can only get in a hidden town. I found them in my house one day when I was cleaning. But these cards are magical cards that control the elements. They are healing cards, fire cards, love cards, hate cards, etc. You just need to learn an enemies weakness so that that can be the card you use."

Ardine clapped to get their attention since they were looking at their gifts strangely. She smiled brightly. "Okay. The last thing I need to do for the two of you is give you clothes, then transportation."

Helga's brow burrowed. "Why would we need new clothes?" She was getting mighty suspicious about the whole thing and that perhaps Ardine was just setting them off towards their death.

"You two don't look like you belong in Rorome so you stand out pretty well. But I can give you clothes so that you blend in and look less suspicious."

She then proceeded to grab both of their hands and lead them away towards some rooms.

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[What weird clothes] Arnold thought as he looked at himself in the mirror. Ardine had given him only a green, muscle t-shirt (the kind with no sleeves. Like a tank-top) and a clear jacket that seemed to go quite well with the jeans he always wore.

He stepped out of the bedroom to find Helga already done changing. She was wearing pink (as usual) and it consisted of black, tight shorts, a pink shirt, and over that a pink over-coat type thing that had a tail like it was a tuxedo. (If you've played the Final Fantasy VIII game, or if you've seen the pictures and the characters, then imagine what Rinoa wears. That's what Helga's wearing, only in pink). Her hair was done but some of it was still held back by her bow (think Sailor Venus' hairstyle). The odd thing was that she was looking at her clothes as if she's seen them before.

"What's wrong Helga?" Arnold asked in concern. Why would she act like this with something she's probably never worn?

She looked up at him and shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong." She turned and walked back towards the living room, leaving him feeling like there was something she was hiding. He followed anyway and saw Ardine's face light up. "Wow. The clothes suit the both of you so well!"

Arnold blushed at that. "Thanks."

Ardine smiled, then made her way over to the door. "Well, the last thing left is transportation. I'm going to give you two the best Chocobo I have."

They followed her outside and walked until they reached the barn. Arnold helped her open the large door and when it opened, the smell of hay came out, and quite strongly too. But Helga didn't mind. It was a much better smell than her house, which smelled like beer, alcohol, pork rinds, and Olga's perfume.

The barn had about 50 stalls, many with Chocobo's of all sizes and colors. Helga thought it was weird when they were large chicks but now she was seeing large chicks in colors of blue and green. There was even a black one.

Ardine led them towards a ordinary chocobo with a nameplate that read "Raln". Ardine opened his stall and took him out, petting him as she went. "Meet Raln. He's the fastest one I have and the strongest. He surpassed the tests I put my chocobo's through each month to ensure their good health. He seems a little proud though so you have to be careful. He'll be the one to take you to Trinidad's castle."

Helga came over to pet him since she had been so curious over these large birds ever since she had seen them. When he saw her, he made a cute little noise, then nuzzled her and continued to make the sound. Ardine chuckled. "It appears that he likes you Helga."

But when Arnold went over to pet him, he took his head back and even tried to bite him. This shocked Arnold.

"Strange," Ardine mused softly. "He doesn't seem to like you Arnold. I wonder why…"

Helga laughed and Arnold realized for the first time since they had gotten their, Helga had been different up until now. But now the old Helga was back. "He doesn't like Arnold because he's a football head."

Arnold frowned at her. [What happened to the girl that had been nice up until now? Where did she go?]

Ardine shoved something in Arnold's face, getting him out of his thoughts. "Take this map. It's a magical map that shows where you have to go. Follow it no matter where it tells you to go. It's supposed to be a map of destiny."

Helga was finally able to voice a question that had been bothering her for some time now. "Where ARE you getting all these "magical" items from?"

Ardine shook her head. "I don't know. I felt like I've always had them and that I need to keep them for this day. They were just there in my house."

Helga could tell that she was telling the truth, so she just went ahead and mounted Raln. Arnold also made a move to mount him, but the proud chocobo just moved away from him and even tried to bite him again. Arnold sighed deeply.

"Looks like you'll have to walk Arnoldo," Helga mocked.

They began to move away from Ardine's ranch and waved goodbye to her before leaving into their first adventure…

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All right! Done with episode 1! FINALLY!! It was absolute torture writing this because I had re-done it a billion times. Everytime I did it, I wasn't satisfied with the way it came out and then I had to re-do it. But now I don't care that I'm not satisfied with it. I can't disappoint readers who were waiting.

Alright, and as a sorry to **CoSmIc DrEaMeR**, I have episode 2 out also. Yay! So go ahead and read that then review it!! Please????

Go ahead and enjoy episode 2!!!!


	3. Two New Friends

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"Come to me, my love…I'll protect you forever…I promise…"

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The Adventure of a Lifetime

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"Those children will suffer in the same way the other children suffered…"

By Inuyasha-loves-Kagome (A.K.A. Inu-chan)

Guide to write style:

"…" = dialogue

[…] = thoughts

(…) = notes by me

Italics = dream conversations

{…} = noises (not too frequent)

Disclaimer: In Inu-chan's dreams, she owned Hey Arnold…but this is the real world and sadly, she owns nothing except her anime collection and computer. Craig Bartlett owns Hey Arnold. "Hey Craig! I'll buy Hey Arnold off you! Oh! And I can't wait for the movie! You'd better not disappoint us in the "Helga confesses to Arnold" thing!"

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Episode 2: Two New Friends

Arnold unrolled the map that Ardine had given them a few hours ago because Helga had questioned where was the first place they were going. Although back at the ranch Helga had complained and wished she could just go home, she was actually changing her mind upon seeing how beautiful a world Rorome actually was. Right now they were faced with hills that went deep down and had tall grass. Up front they could see a forest begin to build and the ground there looked a bit more flat. It would be the perfect place to camp out since it appeared as if night would come soon.

Loud voices were heard not to far away and Arnold's ears perked up to the noise. His sword at his side, he ran onward towards the source. Helga watched him curiously "Follow him Raln," she ordered. She clicked the roof of her mouth with her tongue. Raln didn't want to run after him but she urged him forward so he ran after Arnold.

Arnold ran to the top of the hill and saw four figures below. Two were running away from the two other ones. Arnold couldn't really make out the first two but the second two wore long black trench coats (not, not the trench coat mafia).

Helga caught up to him and looked below. "Who are they? What's going on?" she asked him.

"I don't know," Arnold said softly. He ran down the hill as fast as he could, holding the hilt of his sword tightly just as a precaution. Helga frowned at him and made Raln follow him.

What they saw was truly amazing. The two people who looked as old as Arnold and Helga took out cards and a sword. The boy there had short chestnut hair that fell in front of deep emerald eyes. He was dressed in a red short-sleeved shirt and blue jean shorts. He also had a red cape that was blue on the outside. The claps on his shoulders looked like the wings on the Angel Crystal, only that they were silver. He moved with grace and speed against one of the men and battled with his sword.

The girl, who also looked as old as Arnold and Helga, took out a card similar to the kind Helga had. She had darker brown hair than him that was up into two pigtails. Her eyes were brown instead of green and she wore a tanned trench coat made of cloth. She also wore jean pants and a white shirt. She held the card up high. "Wind!" she yelled at her attacker, who was running towards her with his own sword. The wind swirled around him furiously and made him block his eyes, which gave the girl enough time to take out another card. "Sword!" A long sword appeared before her and shot towards the man, hitting him clearly through the stomach.

Arnold and Helga gasped as his body disappeared, leaving behind a black soul with red, gleaming eyes. Helga dismounted Raln and ran forward to let the soul get collected into the crystal.

At that moment, the boy had finished off the other guy and his soul, too, was sucked into the Angel Crystal. Helga took it out and looked at it but it remained the same, as if nothing had happened.

"You can't see the souls," came a deep voice. Helga looked up to see the boy and girl looking up at her and smiling. Arnold stood not too far away, although away from Raln who was glaring at him.

Helga hid the crystal away from view, blushing. [Do they know?] she wondered as she looked at their innocent faces. She frowned to hide the redness on her face. "Why do you think I'm looking at their souls?" she asked meanly. "I was just admiring my necklace."

The boy shook his head. "I know what that was. It was the Angel Crystal."

Arnold tried to hide it by laughing but it came out nervously. "W-We don't have any Angel Crystal."

"Please," said the exasperated girl. "You can't fool us." Her mad face turned into one of happiness. "I'm actually glad someone found it for us. It saves us the trouble."

"Who ARE you?" Helga asked angrily, suspecting them to be one of Trinidad's men. But if they were, then why did they kill one of their own?

The girl and boy bowed to them. "Legendary Heroes, allow us to properly introduce ourselves," said the boy. "Our names are Ray and Darlene, prince and princess of Kyapa, the town famous for it's well-natured people."

Arnold's eyes bulged as Helga gaped. "Y-you're a prince and princess?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," replied Darlene as she placed the two cards she had used into her pocket. "It's not a very big town but we love it and we're proud of it."

By now, the sun had completely disappeared and the sky turned into a pink hue with tiny, barely visible stars in the sky. All four (five if you include Raln) noticed this and Ray sighed. "I think we should set up camp here. It's quite a long walk towards Ikomo. Besides," he turned to look at them, "it seems we need to have a talk about you and the crystal."

Helga fumed. [Who do these two think they are?] "We've got nothing to tell you about anything!"

"It's okay," Darlene said softly. "We were on our own journey to do what the two of you are doing." She shrugged. "But it seems that you two have already found the crystal so we don't need to do that anymore."

"Alright then," Arnold said, turning to Ray. "Let's set up camp and we can talk then."

Ray smiled and they began.

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The crackling warm fire; the gentle sound of the crickets; and the twinkling stars above made the scene spectacular. It was enough to make Helga sick.

The tents were up and now everyone else was off looking for more wood while Helga stayed behind. She wanted a little alone time to think about things. She was puzzling over what Ardine had told them: "No one knows what happened to them." [What DID happen in the past? Why didn't the two kids have their happy ending? And why do I feel like this has to do with my dream?] At the thought of the dream, Helga remembered about this morning. She frowned. [He probably doesn't even remember…]

A rustling was heard and Helga jumped. She pulled out any card she could finger and waited, should it be one of Trinidad's men.

It wasn't.

Darlene, Ray, and Arnold emerged, their arms heavy with wood. They all set the wood a distance away from the fire and they sat down on the logs, tired.

"How's the food coming Helga?" Arnold asked. He yawned tiredly.

"It's been done for a while Football Head," she said with a sneer. She hated the fact that he was no longer worried about her like he had been in the morning.

Arnold frowned at her and stayed quiet while Darlene winked at Ray. He winked back knowingly. Something no one could notice was passing through their minds.

Ray stood up and began to pour the soup into a bowl. Arnold observed it and saw that it was broth, with vegetables, and some sort of meat Arnold had never seen before. The meat was all sorts of colors and it glowed.

"Kyapa fish," Ray explained as he handed the bowl to Arnold. "It's the best tasting fish in all of Rorome."

Arnold eyed the food before him as he let it rest on his lap, warming it from the cold of the night. He lifted the spoon and took a taste. His eyes bulged in pleasure. Never had he'd tasted fish this good. "Wow," he said breathless.

"Yeah," chorused Helga, who in turn tasted the fish. "That's really good."

Darlene smiled at her. "Thanks."

"So," began Ray, wanting to get to business, "what are your names? We shared ours but you two have yet to share yours."

Arnold pointed to himself as he had his mouth full, his cheeks round looking. "I'f Arfuld," he answered.

Darlene giggled but tried to hide it with her hand, Ray chuckled out loud, and even Helga smiled and tried not to laugh. Arnold finally swallowed and glared at them. "Hey, it isn't easy talking with your mouth full."

Helga couldn't take it so she broke out into laughter, Ray and Darlene joining her. "Then you—haha—should have—hahaha—waited till you were done—hehe—football head—HAHA!"

Arnold, being the good-natured guy that he was, also joined into the laughter. He had to admit that that was pretty funny.

It took then a good 5 minutes before they were able to calm down. Darlene wiped the tears that were streaming down her face from all the laughing. "Man, I haven't laughed like that in days."

"Why not?" Arnold asked.

Both Ray and Darlene calmed down completely and instead looked downwards with a grim, sad look. Arnold was getting even more curious, but he also felt like kicking himself. Ray sighed. "I guess we'll have to tell you why we were looking for the Angel Crystal." He turned to look at his sister as if he wanted her to continue.

She sighed, defeated. She knew that he hated having to talk about such sad things. "Our kingdom was taken over by Trinidad's men and they captured our parent's. We had known about the Legendary Heroes and the Angel Crystal since we were kids. So when everything was taken away from us, we decided to go in search of the Crystal, free our parent's and then challenge Trinidad."

There was a long pause in which everyone let it all sink in. Helga actually felt envious towards them because they had love towards their parent's and were risking their lives for them. Helga never thought she would do that for HER parent's.

They all remembered about their food and Ray decided to laugh off everything. "But we don't have to worry now. You guys are here and I'm sure you'll be able to stop Trinidad!"

Darlene nodded in agreement. "And what about us helping you? Since we ARE doing the same thing, why don't we join forces and become even more powerful? Me and Ray can't just sit around and let you guys do all the work while our parent's are prisoners back home."

Arnold thought about this for a while. He thought back to the fight a few hours ago. They had taken on two of Trinidad's men by themselves and won. They definitely were powerful and knew what they were doing. He smiled and nodded. "Sure. And perhaps you could even help us learn how to use our weapons. We just barely got them today."

Darlene and Ray smiled, glad that they accepted.

Helga was the only one who probably wasn't so pleased. If those two went, then that meant that she wouldn't have any alone time with Arnold. "I'll be right back okay? I need to go wash up before we go to sleep."

Darlene could see the slight rage in Helga's eyes. She decided to pretend to need to go wash up also so she could talk to her.

This gave Ray the perfect opportunity to ask about the "relationship" that Arnold and Helga had. "So what's the deal with you two? Are you dating?"

Arnold's eyes went wide and he blushed. "Wha-What are you talking about?! We're not dating!"

Ray chuckled nervously and out two hands in front of him in surrender. "Okay, okay. There's no need to get all huffy about it. I was just curious. It's just that you two seem like you're in love."

Arnold blushed even deeper. "I'm not in love with Helga. She hates me."

"It doesn't look that way."

Arnold looked at Ray like he wanted an explanation. Ray continued. "When I saw the way she was looking at you when we came back to camp, it made me feel like she had an unrequited love with you. If you're not in love with her, then she is."

Arnold shrugged this off and didn't say anything. [There's no way that Helga G. Pataki is on love with me. Ray was probably reading her wrong]

They ate in silence after that, both waiting for the girls to come back so they could say goodnight and go to sleep.

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Helga had stopped at a little stream that she had discovered in her walk away from the camp and kneeled in front of it to peer at her reflection. All she saw was a miserable little girl who wanted some alone time with her love. Yet here come these two who want to accompany them on their journey and they ruin everything.

[But what types of things did you have planned Helga?] she asked herself as she heard the calm noises of the stream. [Were you planning on confessing?]

Helga fumed and looked away from her daily reminder of why Arnold would never like her. [I actually did plan on it, OKAY? I was just going to wait for the right time. But now these two stooges are here and I can't tell him with them around.]

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a rustling behind her. She became alert and fingered her cards like when Arnold, Ray, and Darlene had come back from camp. [You never know when one of Trinidad's men will strike]

Who should appear from out of nowhere except Darlene. She was watching Helga with an expressionless face, yet Helga, who had spent her whole life deciphering people, knew that Darlene wanted to smile.

Helga narrowed her eyes a little. "What do YOU want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice soft, yet deadly, like a snake who was ready to strike at any time.

Then came the smile. And she wasn't trying to be discreet about anything either. "You like Arnold, don't you?" There, see. She just came right out and said it.

Helga would have blushed, but she was the best of the best actresses, so she kept her face neutral. She turned her face away. "I have no idea WHAT you're talking about."

Darlene slightly rolled her eyes at that. "Helga, no matter how hard you've tried to hide it from everyone, you can't hide it from me. I'm too observant. I've been able to see through the facade you put up. You like Arnold." She continued before Helga could because she was opening her mouth to argue. "And you can't deny it no matter what. But you don't have to worry because I'm not telling anyone. This is a secret kept between you and me kay?"

Darlene stuck her hand out and Helga looked at her, trying to find her lying, any hint at all that would tell her not to trust her. However, she saw that she was telling the truth and that she really wouldn't tell her secret. Perhaps these two weren't so bad after all.

Helga shook her hand and genuinely smiled for once. "Okay." Then came the fists. "But if you DO tell, you'll have to meet Old Besty and the Five Avengers."

Darlene just chuckled. "I promise." She released her grip and turned to walk away. "Come on. The boys are probably worried about us."

Helga looked one last time into the stream. [I hope the future looks bright for all of us] Then she turned and followed Darlene.

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When they made it back to camp, they found the boys already asleep. How did they know? Well, let's just say that Ray's extremely LOUD snoring gave it away. Darlene laughed at this and went into her own tent. "Goodnight Helga."

''Night," Helga mumbled. It had felt weird for her because it was the first time she had ever said goodnight to anyone.

Neither noticed the small noise near them…

"Ow," someone mumbled inaudibly, but still enough to annoy his partner.

"Shh!" the other hissed softly with a finger to his lips. "We don't want to wake them! If they know, then the whole plan will fall!"

They both crept slowly towards the sleeping children. They tried to make their steps inaudible but it seemed to have failed. There was someone with sharp hearing who burst from the tents and stood in front of them, glaring with eyes that could kill. "Who are you two?!" Helga hissed. Ever since she had gotten her crush (or fallen in love with Arnold), she had made sure her hearing doubled a normal person's because she had to make sure no one was around as she sprouted poetry to her locket. But now she faced the two intruders with looks that could kill.

The uglier looking man cursed, but what was done was done. He smirked. "We don't need to answer your question little girl. All you need to know is that you and your little friends are going to die tonight."

Something exploded inside of Helga there. She felt like déjà vu. Like she had faced a similar situation before. The sudden rush of heat flowing through her veins…the anger and hatred…it all felt so familiar. She wasn't about to stand around and watch her friends die!

She took out a card, any card, she didn't care which one. Of course she still had to look for it before she could shout the name. "Fire!" she yelled. Upon command, a long stream of fire blew out of the card like it was a flame-thrower. Both of the men dodged it…but just barely.

"What's going on Helga?" someone called out sleepily and with a yawn. It was Arnold, followed by Ray and Darlene who all looked like they hadn't slept in years and had been woken up when they were finally going to get some rest. When they saw what was going on, however, their eyes widened and they became fully awake.

"Urgh!" Helga complained, wishing they wouldn't have woken up. [I didn't want to involve them!] She took out another card and called upon it. "Illusion!"

This card was strange. The people who weren't affected by it felt normal and watched as the people affected by it acted as if they were loony. There were many different reactions among the different people. Some lived nightmares, others fantasies, and others good memories that they didn't want to let go off. These two seemed to be in the fantasy state. One had a dreamy look in his eye and was cupping his hands together, mumbling stuff about being king of Rorome. The other danced around in a happy mood and he acted as if he wasn't alone.

Helga turned to look at the other three who were just standing there. "Come on! We've got to defeat them!"

Everyone nodded and the boys went back for their swords while Darlene stepped forward and helped Helga. She took out a card. "Ice!"

Several sharp ice spikes came flying from the sky and landed on the two men, but they appeared unfazed. She was forced to take out another card. "Lightning!" This time a large bolt hit each of them, but they were still in the illusion and seemed totally unaffected by the spell.

"It's not working Darlene!" Helga yelled. She thought up of something that Ardine had told her:

You just need to learn an enemies weakness so that that can be the card you use.

Helga decided to take that advice. She turned towards Arnold and Ray when they came back from getting their swords. "We need to find their tattoo! It'll tell us what weakness they have!"

Ray blinked at her in TOTAL surprise while Arnold looked confused. "Helga," Ray breathed, speechless. "How did you know about that? Did someone tell you about the tattoo's?"

Helga didn't say anything and also blinked in her own surprised. [That's right! Ardine never told us about that. She was vague when she explained everything. So then…how did I know?]

She shook it off and shouted at them. "Just search for it! Never mind how I know!"

Ray and Arnold decided to shrug it off for now, and went ahead and began to tear at the men's clothes. They needed to move fast. They would be getting out of the illusion spell soon.

"There it is!" Arnold announced, pointing at the space behind the ugly guy's ear. How he had managed to find it there was beyond him. But either way, he told Helga about the tattoo. "It's a purple star with purple circle. And there's a black 'T' in the middle."

Helga and Darlene thought for a while, thinking up of what type of thing purple meant. Darlene seemed to get it before Helga. She gasped. "That's the color of hate! The card of love will work against that and destroy them!"

Both of them took out those cards and each pointed it at their own separate guy. "Love!" they chorused together.

A pink shimmery light with little pink cards flew out of the card and hit the two men. They felt the love overpower them. There was too much hate in them that they couldn't take the sudden rush of love. The illusion was broken…but so were they. Their bodies materialized into nothing and all that was left were two black souls with red eyes. They were sucked into the crystal where they would face their judgment.

Helga breathed deeply, glad that it was over. [Over? Yeah right. I bet there are more of them we're going to have to face. This isn't going to be easy]

"Helga," came Ray's voice. She turned to look at him and he was looking at her with the same expression of puzzlement. "How did you know about the tattoo's?"

Helga frowned at him. "How did you know I didn't know? Maybe I could have heard it from somewhere, like Ardine, our friend who helped us out?"

Ray shook his head. "There was no way your friend could have known unless she fought one of Trinidad's men herself. But I doubt that. No one really knows how to beat them unless they've fought and gotten lucky. The tattoo's are their weaknesses because they reveal what they're weak against. But like I said, no one really knows that so it was pretty easy for them to conquer many towns."

"Like Ikomo?" Helga wondered, not wanting to say "Kyapa" because they knew how delicate they were on the subject.

Ray nodded.

"What's the situation there?" Arnold asked.

Darlene decided to answer that. "Trinidad's men disguised themselves as regular citizens and then went around blaming people that they were the ones who stole their stuff. Me and Ray are still trying to figure out why they go around blaming people and causing fights. We think that it's so the people kill each other, thus letting them gain power of the town."

"We've got to stop them!" Arnold protested.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Ray yawned. "But how about we get back to sleep. I can tell tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Everyone seemed to agree to that too so they bid each other good night and then hit the hay.

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Woo hoo! Episode 2 is done!! FINALLY!!! Yay!!!

I'm not sure if I rushed it or if Arnold and Helga seem a bit OOC (out of character for those who don't know that abbrev.) I hope you forgive me if they are. I'll try to make them more like themselves. It's just a bit hard to imagine them any other way. If you were Helga (bossy, mean, but with a hidden love), would YOU also act this way if faced with this situation????

Anyways, I have MANY things planned for Arnold and Helga AND for Ray and Darlene (those two are so fun to write ^^). Romance coming in further episodes!!!

Okay, so please please please please please review!!!

And I'll try to get Episode 3 out soon!! Promise!! Like I said, this fic has now become fun to write and I'm not about to abandon it!!

Signed,

Inuyasha-loves-Kagome (A.K.A. Inu-chan)

Email: hitomi_fanel1111@yahoo.com


	4. Problem at the orphanage

WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I GOT A NEW KEYBOARD!!! NOW I CAN CONTINUE MY FICS!!! Although now I'm not going to get allowance for 3 weeks - -;;;

Thank you soooo much for the reviews!! I really appreciate it!!! And hopefully one day more and more people will review. But if they don't then that's okay because I like writing this fic.

P.S. From now on I **AM** not going to put an end note like I usually do. From now on it'll be blank so that when you finished reading, you can be left with whatever feeling you have by the end of the chapter. I found this quite effective. When you read and are shocked by something, but then read the end note, the feeling goes away. So from now on there is **NO** end note. Thank you!!

Oops! I forgot to mention Raln in this chapter. I'm sorry. I usually forget about him. I'll try and work him into the next chapter for those who have grown to like the "I hate Arnold" chocobo. It was too late to redo this chapter just so I forgot to fit him in. Let's just say that he was taken to a stall and kept there k?

NOTE: "Iko" means "orphanage" in Japanese so you'll find out where I got the name for the town.

Now on with the fic!!!!

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"Come to me, my love…I'll protect you forever…I promise…"

****

The Adventure of a Lifetime

****

"Those children will suffer in the same way the other children suffered…"

By Inuyasha-loves-Kagome (A.K.A. Inu-chan)

Guide to write style:

"…" = dialogue

[…] = thoughts

(…) = notes by me

{…} = noises (not too frequent)

Italics = dream conversations

Disclaimer: In Inu-chan's dreams, she owned Hey Arnold…but this is the real world and sadly, she owns nothing except her anime collection and computer. Craig Bartlett owns Hey Arnold. "Hey Craig! I'll buy Hey Arnold off you! Oh! And I can't wait for the movie! You'd better not disappoint us in the "Helga confesses to Arnold" thing!"

Fic dedication (I TOLD YOU I WOULD!!): Poisony Ivy!

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Episode 3: Problem at the orphanage

In the morning everyone set off for Ikomo. It was during this trip that Helga, Arnold, Ray, and Darlene got to know each other. They shared the types of things they did in their childhood, although they were still children (^^). Arnold even shared a certain incident to Ray concerning a certain blond-haired girl who stole his heart during Valentine's Day (and they were quite a distance away from Helga and Darlene)

"And so she just…disappeared?" Ray questioned, totally surprised that a girl would act that way. [Whom could she have been to do that to Arnold?]

Arnold nodded, confirming Ray's suspicions. "I never saw her again after that." He looked up at Ray with slightly pleading eyes. "What do you think I should do?"

Ray paused for a bit, considering this deeply. He had never really dealed with girls or given anyone advice on the matter in his life, but that didn't stop him from trying to help Arnold. He seemed like a really troubled boy who needed advice on this and fast. "Well Arnold, I guess what you could do was…uh…" he stopped there and didn't bother to continue because he seriously didn't have any idea what to tell him.

Arnold sighed heavily. Was there no one who could help him with this problem? He decided instead to tell him about Lila. Maybe he could help with that. "But then there's this other girl at my school name Lila who I like-like. But she doesn't like-like me. She only likes me."

Ray's head swam with Arnold just told him. NOW he was confused. [Didn't he just tell me he liked that girl who disappeared? How can he like both? It doesn't make any sense.] He snuck a peak at Helga from the corner of his eye. [Then I thought he liked Helga. But I don't think he likes her in THAT way. Too bad too because I think they look cute together] He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Arnold's hand in front of his face. He blinked and looked back at him.

"Are you okay?" Arnold asked, wondering what had caused him to space out.

"Yeah," Ray responded, suddenly embarrassed that he had been caught in that state. "I was just thinking about what you told me. I was actually a bit…confused."

"Confused?" he asked, puzzled. "Why?"

Ray paused before he continued. "Well, you were just telling me that you like the girl who pretended to be 'Cecile', but now you're telling me that you like some girl named Lila."

Arnold blushed and looked away. "Well, I guess I never thought about it before." He stopped there because he had no idea how to continue.

Meanwhile with Darlene and Helga, they had been talking about Darlene's life but she was getting curious about Helga and her childhood. She hadn't mentioned one thing about it.

"And when I was five," Darlene said, "I remember what a brat I was. I made my brother dress in girl's clothes and parade around the palace."

It was too funny for Helga NOT to laugh. "I can't believe the control you had over him! That's rich!"

"Helga…?" Darlene started, wondering if it was okay to ask.

Helga saw that she was getting ready to do something she didn't like and got defensive. It was like a sixth sense she had. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly. If it WAS what she was thinking, then Helga would go right back to the mean bully that everyone back home knew.

"Why haven't you told me about YOUR childhood?" How she hoped she wasn't being too forward.

Helga took a deep breath that was actually a sigh for her. She was thinking that she was going to ask about THAT if you know what I mean. But it wasn't so it was okay. She shrugged her shoulders. "It was okay," she said simply.

Darlene eyebrows furrowed. "Just okay? You didn't do anything worth mentioning?"

Helga became even more defensive with that. [How dare she say that! She has no idea about me and my life!] "Not all of use did interesting things _princess_," she said, putting a bit more emphasism and nastiness on the word 'princess'.

Darlene huffed and looked away. [Well, this is weird. First we're talking like we're good friends but now we're in an argument.] Her face softened when an idea of what caused this fight came to her. [But I guess I shouldn't have tried to pry into her life unless she wanted me to] She turned back to look at Helga and her face was now apologetic. "I'm sorry Helga. I should never have tried to pry into your life like that. I hope you can forgive me."

Helga blinked, actually shocked by someone. No one had ever said they were sorry to her (save Arnold who didn't really count because he said that to everybody). [Is this girl for real? One minute she's mad and the next she's apologizing. Is it just me, or is this world full of Arnold's?] "Uh, no problem, I guess."

Darlene smiled a little shyly at her. "So we're good?"

Helga eventually nodded, then smiled.

They kept to it that way for the rest of the trip to Ikomo.

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When they arrived in Ikomo, things looked pretty normal so far. The only difference was that everyone dressed elegantly and there seemed to be nothing but large mansions as far as the eye could see. Helga and Arnold had certainly never seen anything like it. They blinked several times as an old woman wearing the flowiest gown passed by them. She wore jewelry of every type and even wore a small diamond tiara on her head.

"What is this?" Helga questioned, wondering how that woman could possibly wear so much and not be hot. How could anyone?

Darlene chuckled a bit nervously. "Well, uh, we forgot to tell you that Ikomo is the capital of the nobles. In fact, every town here in Rorome is a capital of something."

Arnold looked around, expecting for there to be something out of the ordinary, but finding that all the people of the town looked normal as they went on with their daily business. "Ray," he whispered to the boy beside him, who was looking around like him, "I thought you said that there were people blaming each other?"

"There are," Ray responded, wondering if maybe what he and Darlene had seen was just an illusion. "We saw how some nobles went around blaming each other. Me and Darlene were blamed by those minions of Trinidad so we had to leave. I wonder what's going on."

Arnold knew that since this was obviously something caused by Trinidad, they would need to stay and see what they could investigate. He reached over into the bag Ardine had give them (one for him and one for Helga which she's carrying) and pulled out some money. "Well, let's go stay at the hotel and see what happens," he spoke to everyone. "If nothing happens after a while, then we leave."

Everyone nodded and followed Arnold to the large hotel. To Arnold and Helga, it looked like something out of "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." The ceiling was elegantly decorated with a HUGE chandelier and designs in rich colors. Rather than being lit by bulbs, the whole place was lit by candles, giving it an even more elegant look and feel to it. But rather than have many receptionists, there was only one: An old lady who stood up straight with a regal manner and had her hair tied up into a twist at the top of her head. She looked like someone that you didn't want to mess with.

So it was quite a surprise when she smiled in a friendly manner. "Hello. Welcome to Ikomo hotel. Would you like a room?"

Arnold was beginning to doubt whether or not they could afford something like this. "Um, how much does it cost to stay here?"

"100 gazoos each person," she responded firmly, yet nicely. (Note: 2 gazoos equals an American dollar so that means it costs $50 dollars each. A fair deal for a nice hotel like that, don't you think? ^^)

Arnold and Helga would have yelled out like Ray and Darlene, had they known how expensive 100 gazoos was. Darlene turned to Arnold and shook her head. "I don't think you have enough for that Arnold. We should probably go camp out outside better. You need to save that money for emergencies."

Seeing that they weren't going to stay unless she did something, the woman called out to them as they turned around to walk out of the hotel. "How about instead I give you a room with meal, if you help around with cleaning?"

They were all a bit hesitant at first, but eventually accepted, seeing that it was a pretty good deal.

As the woman was leading them towards their room before leading them to what work they were going to do, Helga saw something move out of the corner of her eye. However, before she was able to see what it was, it disappeared just as fast.

[I'm going to have to keep a good eye out at this place] she thought as she followed everyone.

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Arnold thought it was a fair deal. All they had to do was wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. The room the woman had given them had two king-sized canopy beds with velvet cushions and it even had a refrigerator with some candy and food. All of that, and all they had to do was clean. Was this place really that rich? Where did they get all of their money?

Arnold and Helga were mopping while Ray and Darlene washed the dishes. It was actually quite funny to see a prince and a princess try to do something they had never done in their lives. Darlene held the bar of soap like it was poisonous, and softly scrubbed the large pot that had something burned onto it. Leftover food, she supposed, that had burned during the cooking.

Meanwhile, Ray was just waiting patiently for Darlene to finish with the pot because he was given the job of drying. However, since she was taking so long with one pot, he just sat there lazily, trying to figure out what was going on in this town.

As Helga mopped, she saw again the figure out of the corner of her eye. It was standing off near a table far away and hiding quite well. Helga wanted to go over there and confront it, but if it knew that she was watching, it would run away again.

"HEY!" a loud voice yelled, making Darlene drop the pot, Ray drop his head so that it hit the table with a loud CLANK, and Arnold and Helga to jump up into the air and drop their brooms. They all looked at who had made the voice and saw that it was just a small child of about 3. It was a boy, with the largest dark eyes they had ever seen, and no hair. He was smiling, but there was something about that smile that made Helga's spine tingle.

"What're ya doin'?" he asked in an innocent tone.

"Washing," Darlene answered kindly, walking over to him and kneeling so that she was level to level with him. "Are you lost little boy?"

He nodded slowly. "I was wif my friends but I sau the bak door open so I came in." (Don't know how to type the conversation of a 3 year old ^^;;)

Darlene stood up and offered her hand. "Why don't I take you to them then? I'm sure they're worried about you."

He looked at her and her hand, then his gaze traveled to Helga who was looking at the kid suspiciously. He smiled and ran over to them. "You take me!" he demanded with large eyes.

"Me?" Helga blinked, pointing at herself. Not only did she not want to leave, but she also didn't want to be alone with this kid. He may have looked innocent, but the truth was that he was giving her the creeps.

"Go on Helga," Arnold urged, giving her one of those million dollar smiles that always made her melt. How could she say no to that?

She frowned and rolled her eyes. "Fine," she muttered, then went over and took the little kid's hand.

They walked out and began to walk down the street. While Helga was looking around for a large group of kids, the little boy was looking up at her and smiling. If one looked well enough, you could see that he wasn't looking at Helga's face, and he wasn't smiling sweetly.

When Helga spotted the kids, she let his hand go and watched as he ran to them. The woman who Helga supposed was in charge, smiled and bowed to her as a thank you.

Helga didn't bother to wave back to who that it was no big deal because it WAS a big deal. That kid had creeped her out a great deal.

Meanwhile behind her, the kid looked at her retreating form and smiled smugly.

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That night they all slept peacefully, totally unaware of the dark shadow that invaded their room. It proceeded over to where Helga slept, looked leeringly at the stand next to the bed, and picked up a certain large jewel that Helga had taken off because it hurt her at night.

With it in hand, it crawled out into the darkness of the night and left.

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Helga was in a panic in the morning. She had woken up to discover the Angel Crystal gone. She searched for it as everyone got ready for another day of working so that they wouldn't ask what she was doing. But when they came back out again, she laughed it off and excused herself, saying that she needed to go do something.

As she walked through the streets, things seemed different. When they had arrived, no one was blaming anyone about stuff being stolen, but now wherever she went, there was someone blowing their top off and accusing each other of something they most likely didn't do.

"I saw you last night taking off with it!" an aristocratic man accused another one like him.

"I did nothing of the sort!" he yelled back in defense.

They were all invading each other's houses, searching, but all of them coming back empty handed. When had all of this started?

Helga stopped a woman who still looked sane. "Excuse me ma'am. When did this start?"

"This morning. People just starting tearing down each other's doors saying that they saw someone stealing something of theirs," she replied kindly. "Of course the only place that I've seen that hasn't complained yet is the Ikomo orphanage."

"Orphanage?" Helga repeated. And idea struck her when she remembered yesterday. "Was that group of kids that was exploring the town yesterday from the orphanage?"

When the lady nodded, Helga had no more doubt. She asked the woman where the building was located and the woman gave her directions. She thanked her and was off.

[I knew it] she thought as she avoided being seen by anyone. The way things were going, if she was seen, she probably would have been blamed for anything. [That kid always gave me that feeling like I got 2 days ago like when we were attacked by those two minions.]

She stopped near a bush next to the orphanage and looked around for anyone that could see her. When she was sure the coast was clear, she walked along the side and looked around for any sort of entrance.

[Bingo!] she shouted in her mind triumphantly when she saw a small opening with a screen. She tried to pry it open with her hands but it seemed to be bolted down.

Suddenly, a knife cut through the screen, making a sleek cut down the middle and making Helga yelp and fall backward on her butt.

"Sorry Helga," a familiar voice apologized. She looked up and saw Arnold with his usual apologetic look. He re-sheathed his sword and offered her his hand. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Stupid Football Head," Helga muttered when she was finally up. He didn't hear that but she went ahead and questioned him. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw the troubled look you had so I followed you and made sure you were okay."

Helga was touched, but she decided not to show it. "Well you shouldn't have. I can take care of myself."

Arnold ignored that and instead kneeled down so that he could look inside the hole. "So why are you here?"

Helga wondered if he really was that dense. "Isn't it obvious? Didn't you see the way people are acting all of a sudden? It's just like Ray and Darlene said! Everyone's blaming each other, but so far from what a woman told me, the orphanage is the only place that hasn't been blamed."

He stood up after seeing that there was no way he could see inside without light. He gave Helga a questioning look. "Are you telling me that you suspect a bunch of kids?"

"Yes! But I don't suspect all of them. That kid that appeared to us yesterday who said he was lost, he gave me the weirdest feeling. I didn't care that he was a kid. I don't trust him."

Without waiting for further arguments from him, Helga slipped down the hole that was large enough for her to get through. Since it was so dark, she took out a card. "Light!" she yelled. The card glowed and let Helga see what the basement had to offer.

She gasped. She was standing in the basement, surrounded by many exquisite things. There were vases of porcelain, expensive dolls, sheets of silk and soft cotton, clothes, jewelry, etc. Everything made out the finest gold or silver.

Helga ran back to where Arnold was and whispered at him. "Go get Darlene and Ray! Everything that's been stolen is here! Shout it out for the town to know!"

He nodded and went off to do what she asked. Had he stayed a bit longer, he would have seen Helga as a mouth clamped over her mouth, making her gasp in surprise and wriggle out of the grip.

The person holding her dragged her away from the basement and towards the main room, where Helga saw all of the children on the floor as the small child she had helped yesterday stood over them, an evil smile plastered on his face. "So you finally figured out my secret eh, Legendary Hero?"

The person holding her pushed her onto the floor, the light card still in her hand and glowing brightly. She propped herself up on the palms of her hands and glared up at the kid. "I should have know that you caused all of this. And I also should have known that you're one of Trinidad's servants!"

He smiled again before his began to transform before Helga's eyes. His clothes turned into a black trench coat and his body stretched. He was still bald by the time the transformation was complete and his eyes were still large (though they didn't hold an ounce of innocence), but he now also had 5 o'clock shadow. "Since you know my secret, I'm afraid you're going to have to die."

But Helga was quicker. Taking out a card with her light one, she combined the two. "Sword!" The card transformed into a sword and with the light card, a ray of light shot out and hit Trinidad's servant.

She looked behind her to take down the one who had grabbed her, and found out that there was only a little girl lying there like the rest of the children. She was still dressed in a white summer dress like she had been yesterday so she guessed that he had switched ages with her and manipulated her mind.

She ran out and was greeted with the sight of Arnold, Ray, and Darlene running towards her. All of the people were just standing there, watching.

"I was right!" Helga yelled. "That kid is one of Trinidad's servants!"

No one was given the time to react as he came out of the orphanage and a blast of power sent everyone flying backwards. Helga accidentally landed on Arnold and both of them blushed and stood up.

"Fools!" he yelled in half anger and half triumph. "You won't be able to stop me! Not as long as I have the power of the Angel Crystal!" He held it out for everyone to see. Helga's eyes went wide along with her companions and people who knew the legend of the Legendary Heroes, as the rest of the people who didn't just stood there, puzzling over what was going on.

"Give it back!" Helga yelled, a new card ready. She lifted it up. "Rope!" Rope appeared from the card and tied itself around him.

"Darlene!" Ray ordered. "Get the crystal!"

She used a barrier card on herself as she ran forward to snatch the jewel from his neck. When she reached out to touch it, she was sent back flying.

"I think only Helga can touch the crystal!" Arnold shouted at them, wondering why this was so.

Helga looked determined. [I failed everyone once when I let it get stolen. I won't let it happen again!] She also called upon the power of the barrier card and ran forward to take the jewel. She knew she had to act quick because the rope spell she cast was beginning to fade away.

With a quick lunge, just as the rope disappeared completely, she grabbed the crystal from around his neck and rolled away, landing ungracefully on the ground in a heap. She stood up and quickly put the jewel back around her neck.

The man growled and made another lunge for her, but was again wrapped in rope, this time by Darlene. "Finish him off Helga!" Darlene yelled.

Helga was more than happy to oblige. She was about to blink when she remembered about the tattoo's. "I can't attack without knowing his weakness!"

Darlene realized this too and ordered Ray and Arnold to run forward and tear at his clothes. Luckily, although there was the rope blocking them, it wouldn't be cu by them. The rope only affected the person it was cast on.

They both sliced and diced until Ray called out that he had found it and that it was blue.

Helga knew that either meant "sadness", "ice", or "water". She took out the fire card first since there was a 2/3 possibility that it was something affected by it. She held it up high. "Fire!" she yelled, and watched as it shot out like a flame-thrower.

The minion screamed in pain as the fire consumed him, and soon, all that was left was the rope and his soul floating in the air. Helga ran forward and sucked up his soul into the crystal. It gleamed in her hand.

There was a sudden movement coming from the main doors of the orphanage as the children all came out. They looked a bit dazed, but okay.

"Thank you Legendary Heroes," said someone from the audience of people that had surrounded them. They looked all around and found them all smiling. The lady from the hotel stepped out into the opening. "As a thank you for saving our town, we want to give you some money for your journeys, for helping out in the hotel, for saving the children, but most of all for saving us."

There was a large glow coming from the people and everyone except the children and the people knew what it was. The love of the people for Rorome was being sucked into the crystal. A thought then occurred to Helga. If their love was being sucked into the crystal, did that mean that they would hate it after? Helga frowned at the thought. [What a stupid question! I doubt that the crystal would suck up ALL of their love for this world]

Her suspicions were confirmed when the people stopped glowing. They were still smiling.

The hotel lady gave them the money and thanked them again. She told them that whenever they wanted, they could come and stay at the hotel again for free.

Once it was all over, they went to get Raln.

Helga looked at Arnold as she untied him. Raln, meanwhile, was nuzzling her. "Where to now Football Head?"

Arnold looked at the map and a line of dots appeared until they stopped at a town marked "Biyon". "Looks like we're heading for Biyon."

Darlene nodded knowingly while Ray blanched. No one seemed to notice though. "That town was built to help people get to the other continent. It's small compared to the other dock town called "Nuryo". It's a boat central."

Darlene knew what was wrong with Ray so she turned to him and smirked, using a teasing tone. "What's the matter Ray? Afraid the boat will _sink_?" She turned to the others who were looking at her weirdly. "He's afraid to travel by boat. He absolutely hates it!"

"Shut up!" Ray ordered, trying to forget about the rocking of the boat and the possibility that it would sink during their journey.

Darlene laughed and mouthed at Helga "I'll tell you later."

Helga nodded.

Without further arguments from Ray and Darlene, they left the stalls and headed for Biyon.

To be continued in part 4…


End file.
